Tag Archives: Santiago

LAN Chile (now LAN Airlines) (Santiago) flight 210 operated with Douglas C-47A-DL (DC-3) CC-CLDP (msn 9716) crashed in the Andes Mountains on April 3, 1961 on a flight from Temuco to Santiago, Chile. According to Wikipedia, all 24 people on the DC-3 were killed, including eight professional soccer players and two members of the coaching staff from CD Green Cross.

At the time, the crash was Chile’s worst ever aviation disaster. The wreckage has remained undiscovered until this month.

According to this report by The Guardian, the wreckage has been discovered by Chilean mountaineers at an altitude of 10,500 feet and approximately 215 miles south of Santiago.

However contributor, aviation writer and photographer Alvaro Romero of Chile disputes the article published in The Guardian with this comment and photo:

Please find a photo (above) taken straight from the air investigation after the crash of LAN Douglas DC-3 CC-CLDP on April 3 1961. The remains of the aircraft were located on the hill known as Lástimas del Pejerrey, 7 days after the accident (71°10 W 35°5 S). Of the 24 persons on board (four crewmembers and 20 passengers) only the remains of 18 were identified, most of them were with burned flesh, with pieces of clothing that were recognized by their relatives.

It was stated that the crash was because of a number of contributing factors: poor design of Airway 45 (that was too close to the mountains), the deviation of the aircraft because of strong winds from the West, lack of anti-icing devices on wings – these were deleted on LAN-Chile DC-3s), poor quality and too much distance between radio beacons of Victoria and Curicó, lack of IFR training of co-pilots increasing workload on the pilots, use of air frequencies of LAN not only for pilots-land contacts but also for internal, administrative communications, etc.

Recently some in the media have published enthusiastic news regarding the “discovery” of the aircraft remains, even stating these were not found and saying it was a sort of a solved mystery, that’s far beyond the truth.

Chilejet S.A. (Chilejet.com) (Santiago) as we previously reported, is a new airline “established in Chile to serve specific niche markets in the air charter and scheduled markets.”

On December 4, 2014 Chilejet announced Santiago and Antofagasta airport stations have been approved by the Chilean Air Aviation Authority – DGAC, in order to start flight operations. The new airline plans to fly from Santiago (SCL) to Calama (CJC) and Antofagasta (ANF).

Copyright Photo: Alvaro Romero. The company took delivery of its first aircraft, ex-America West/US Airways/PAL Airlines Boeing 737-3G7 CC-ADZ (msn 24634), in 2014. The airliner currently sits at Santiago awaiting approval to fly again.

United Airlines (Chicago) launches its new daily flights between Houston (Bush Intercontinental) and Santiago, Chile, this Sunday (December 7), offering the only nonstop service between the airline’s principal Latin American gateway and the Chilean capital.

Flight UA 847 will depart Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston daily at 9:35 p.m. (2135), arriving at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago at 10:10 a.m. (1010) the following day (all times local.) On the return, flight UA 846 will depart Santiago at 11 p.m. (2300), arriving in Houston at 5:55 a.m. (0555) the next day.

United will operate the flights using Boeing 767-300 aircraft with a total of 214 seats – 30 flat-bed seats with 180 degree recline in United BusinessFirst and 184 seats in United Economy, including 49 Economy Plus extra-legroom seats. Every customer on the aircraft will have personal on-demand in-seat entertainment.

Other New Flights to Latin America and the Caribbean

In addition to the new Santiago service, United is also adding flights to other destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean from several of its hubs. New daily flights between Denver and Panama City, Panama, began on December 3. The airline will also launch new weekly flights from Chicago (O’Hare) to Belize City, Belize, and from Houston (Bush Intercontinental) to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

Denver to Panama

The new daily flights to Panama City, operating with Boeing 737-700 aircraft, depart Denver International Airport at 12:10 p.m. (1210) and arrives at Tocumen International Airport at 8 p.m. (2000) (all times local). The return flights depart Panama City at 9:15 a.m. (0915) and arrives in Denver at 1:25 p.m. (1325). United will operate the flights five times weekly in September and October 2015.

United has been serving Panama City since 1990 and operates one daily nonstop flight from the New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and two daily nonstop flights from the Houston hub.

Additional flights to Belize and Dominican Republic

Beginning on December 20, 2014, United will add previously announced weekly Saturday service from Chicago (O’Hare) to Belize City, Belize, and from Houston (Bush Intercontinental) to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The Belize flights will operate through August 15, 2015, and the Punta Cana flights will operate year-round, increasing to daily service for the summer peak-travel period from June 4 to August 17, 2015.

United, the U.S. airline with the most comprehensive global route network, serves a total of 62 destinations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with more than 930 flights.

LAN Airlines (Chile) (Santiago) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321. The airline has nine more copies on order with deliveries through 2016. The pictured A321-211 D-AVXO became CC-BEA (msn 6364) when it was handed over to the carrier on November 22.

LAN Airlines (Santiago) is planning to assign the Boeing 787-8 to the unique Santiago-Easter Island route. The 787 will operate on the remote route starting on October 1, 2015 three days a week per Airline Route.

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